Long Walks On Leafy Streets

7/28/2015 Beach Drive, Rock Creek Park, Washington, DC
This past Saturday we went on our first big outing. We drove to Great Falls park in MD, about 16 miles from here. I had our all-electric Nissan Leaf charged up and ready by Friday, just in case we have to use the AC and thus reduce its range. We bought it used and its battery capacity was less than 83% of a new Leaf. Now it has fallen to less than 75%. If it goes below 67% we will be able to get the battery pack to be repaired or replaced, according to the terms of the warranty that came with the purchase. In terms of mileage what all this means is that while a new Leaf can go up to 100 miles on a charge, ours goes for less than 75, that too on level ground without using AC. If there is a lot of climbing involved and we turn on the AC it will probably be about 50 miles. Add highway driving at 50 mph or more and it gets even less.
All of this when the weather is warm. In the winter they say it will be much less. We will have to see how much. I drive it very gently and have been able to get the average miles per kwh to 4.4 from the 3.2 that the previous owners were getting. What that means is that, given the current battery capacity, I might even get it to go 75 miles on full charge, if I drive under average conditions. So far it has met all our needs because we don’t drive it too far or too frequently. Most of our trips are within the city and under 20 miles total. I charge it at home and it gives me great pleasure never to have to go to the gas station or burn carbon or deal with oil change, exhaust pipes, etc., But until the affordable electric cars with a range of over 200 miles arrive, as promised, I think all-electric cars are more suitable for people like us that care enough about the environment to deal with the limitations of a car like the Leaf. Having said that it is still a great car to drive, very quiet, and theoretically there is no limit to where we can go because there are now charging stations everywhere. At some of those places you can charge it up to 85% in half an hour.

As it turned out Saturday was a very nice day. We didn’t need to use the AC at all, pretty much. I drove on Military Road, then Western Ave and then River Road all the way to Falls Road. Most of the route went through quiet and scenic upper class neighborhoods and the traffic was light as well. Except for a slight detour near Friendship heights where I got distracted by the roadwork that was going on and missed the turn to River Road it was a pretty smooth ride. As always detours end up being the highlights and we got to see some very interesting houses. The whole trip was about 34 miles and I was pleasantly surprised when I got home to see that we had gotten pretty good mileage. We could have gone another 20 miles, and that too without a full charge. I expected that we might just make it given the changes in elevation but it looks like it averaged out to an almost level drive. Prashant was quiet for the most part. He enjoys the ride –when he is awake – except when the car stops. He then starts wailing and only stops once we get into a good flow again. So the smoothness of the ride helped in keeping him calm. He even fell asleep. He started crying as we got close to the park but calmed down once we got out of the car.

We were all hungry once we got there. So after feeding Prashant, Nicole and I ate the lunch that we had packed: Pongal with eggplant sambar and a mixed vegetable curry (porial) made with cabbage, celery, kale, carrots and peas. (If you are unfamiliar with South Indian cooking just google the terms and you will even find recipes). The park was full of people of all kinds. I was happy to note a number of Priuses (Prii ?) and another Nissan leaf in the lot. We walked to the main viewing area and back. The power of the falls is always impressive, even though the past few days had been dry. You can see Prashant in his cute sun hat (or is it a bonnet?) in the pictures I have posted on flickr (Just click on the small photo at the top of this page and then “Pictures”). We reminisced about the first time we came here, early in our relationship, on a very icy winter evening just before the park closed. I also told her about all the times I would bike there via the C&O canal towpath when I was single, sometimes sitting on the picnic tables and working on my research. Those were the days! But these days are equally if not more special.

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